1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates an electric vehicle including a mechanism for completely discharging a battery pack incorporated therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
When an electric vehicle is submerged and a lot of water flows into a built-in battery pack, or when, due to vehicle collision, the battery pack is broken and its electrolyte leaks, a current may be leaked. In this case, when the water or electrolyte remains within the battery pack, there is a danger that an operator or the like for moving this electric vehicle can be electrically shocked. Therefore, the battery pack must be discharged completely.
When the battery pack is submerged, firstly, mud or cloudy water having invaded therein must be drained and, thereafter, the battery pack is filled with water again and must be left until the battery pack discharges electricity completely. And, also when the electrolyte is leaking, after the electrolyte is drained, water is filled into the battery pack to discharge electricity in the battery pack. In both cases, the water within the battery pack is drained after the electricity is discharged.
There is known a vehicle battery pack having a mechanism for draining invaded water. This battery pack includes a cooling device for cooling battery cells. The cooling device is disposed substantially centrally of the vehicle in its width direction and is used to circulate cool air within the battery pack. In this battery pack, the cooling device includes a drain for draining condensed water. In order to prevent the water against backflow from the drain, a check valve is provided on the outlet of the drain.
Also, in consideration of a case where a battery pack is taken apart for recycling, there is provided a battery pack which includes in its connecting portion a slit for guiding a tool. In this battery pack, multiple unit cells are covered with upper and lower case members. The tool is guided along the slit to cut a hook engaging the upper and lower case members with each other, whereby the unit cells can be taken out from the cases.
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-2011-173447
[Patent Document 2] JP-A-2011-192592